Speaker 1: Dr Tan Joo Siang

“Ethical Research: Ensuring Integrity and Sustainable Impact”

Dr. Tan Joo Siang began her career as a licensed counsellor since 2000. She holds a Ph.D. in Guidance and Counselling and currently works as a Senior Lecturer and Program Coordinator at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia since 2018. She is a life member of the International Malaysian Counselling Association (PERKAMA International) and an international member of the American Psychological Association. Additionally, she is appointed by the Malaysian Board of Counsellors as a panel counsellor for the Malaysian Bar. She has been a member of the Research Ethics Committee for non-clinical research since 2021. She was later appointed as the deputy chair for non-clinical research in 2022 and continues to hold this position. Her career involves teaching counselling ethics, counselling techniques, assessment in counselling, and providing counselling supervision. Her research has focused on topics related to counselling ethics, online counselling, counselling interventions, and applications, with a great interest in culturally suitable practices.

Dr. Tan adopts a humanistic and systemic approach to counselling and is actively engaged in teaching, supervising and training future counsellors and mental health professionals at both the community and university levels. Dr Tan has also supported non-profit and non-governmental organizations such as Life Line Association Malaysia, Satir Whole Person Development Association of Malaysia etc. in their para-professional training, supervision schemes and services. She has been invited as a speaker and forum panelist at several international and national conferences on counselling practices and counsellor professionalism. She considers it a privilege to have the opportunity to embark on a journey with people who may have encountered problems in their lives, be it loss and grief, family and work-related stresses, or mental illness. Besides teaching, she conducts research and is a strong advocate of community assistance programs, actively promoting and developing such initiatives. Currently, she is involved in several international and national research projects.